Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Celebrity Tax Lore
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Tax Problems of White House Party Crashers
CNN, White House Crashers Named in 16 Civil Suits Don't Mess With Taxes, White House Party Crashers Owe IRS Tax Girl, White House Party Crashers Forgot Invites… And Tax Returns
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IRS Files $79k Tax Lien Against Gov. Schwarzenegger
The IRS has slapped a $79,064 tax lien against California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: TMZ, Arnold Schwarzenegger: I'll Be Back Taxes TMZ, Notice of Federal Tax Lien L.A. Times, IRS Files $79,000 Tax Lien Against Schwarzenegger San Francisco Chronicle, IRS Says Schwarzenegger Owes $79,000 San Jose Mercury News, Schwarzenegger's Office Blames $79,000 Tax Lien on "Paperwork" Snafu (Hat…
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11th Circuit Hears Oral Argument Today in Wesley Snipes’ Tax Appeal
The 11th Circuit hears oral argument at 9:00 a,m, in actor Wesley Snipes' appeal of his conviction on three misdemeanor tax fraud counts. The panel is Judge Stanley Marcus (a "movie buff') and Senior Circuit Judges R. Lanier Anderson (a former tax lawyer) and Peter Fay. Update: The AAssociated Press reports on the oral argument here.
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Bill Belichick, Moneyball Savant?
Bill Belichick, coach of my beloved New England Patriots, has been pilloried in the media for going for a first down Sunday night on 4th and 2 from his own 29-yard line with a little over 2 minutes remaining while leading the Indianapolis Coats 34-28. It turns out that Belichick was following the advice of…
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Former Call Girl Belle de Jour/Brooke Magnanti Paid Taxes on Her “Sex Work Earnings”
Times Online, Belle de Jour Owns Up to Her Mother: Belle de Jour can rest easy: her mum doesn’t mind that she worked as a call girl whose online diary became a literary phenomenon. Dr. ooke Magnanti, a research scientist working in Bristol, unmasked herself yesterday as the anonymous author behind the best-kept secret in…
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The Pulitzer Prize for Literature and Tax Notes
Washington Post, The Known World of Edward P. Jones, by Neely Tucker: Edward Paul Jones is sitting at a table in Guapo's restaurant in Tenleytown early on a midsummer evening, looking down into a glass of red wine. Nobody in the place recognizes him, although he's arguably the greatest fiction writer the nation's capital has…
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Zsa Zsa Gabor Blames Bernie Madoff for $118,321 Tax Bill
Associated Press, Zsa Zsa Gabor Has $118,321 Tax Bill, Blames Madoff: Zsa Zsa Gabor's lawyer blames convicted swindler Bernard Madoff for a hefty tax bill owed by his client. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the IRS filed a lien of more than $118,000 for the years 2001 and 2002 against the…
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Tax Angle in David Letterman Extortion Case
The lawyer for Robert Halderman, charged with trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, filed this 34-page memorandum yesterday seeking dismissal of the indictment. In support of his argument that Halderman was merely trying to sell Letterman a screenplay, Halderman's lawyer notes this tax angle (citation omitted): [A]t the September 23 meeting, Halderman and [James] Jackoway [Letterman's lawyer]…
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‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder Joe Francis Gets Time Served in Tax Case
Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis' guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns (and one count of bribing Nevada jail workers in exchange for food) was accepted on Friday by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles. The judge sentenced Francis to time served and one year's probation and requires him to pay $250,000…
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WSJ: 27 Million Reasons to Leave New York
Following up on Wednesday's post, ALJ Says Billionaire Spent Only 183 Days in NYC, So Not Subject to NYC Tax: Weekend Wall Street Journal editorial, 27 Million Reasons to Leave New York; Julian Robertson Wins One For Taxpayers: For every Sunbelt refugee who has tried to leave high tax bills behind in the cold Northeast,…
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More Celebrity Tax Woes
Cathy Lee Crosby (acress: That's Incredible): IRS $47,649 tax lien, California $12,449 tax lien Ron Dellums (Oakland Mayor): IRS $238,998 tax lien Alex English (former Denver Nuggets basketball player): IRS $88,071 tax lien, South Carolina $40,200 tax lien Rachel Harris (actres: The Daily Show, Cougar Town): IRS $19,800 tax lien Anthony Mason (former New York…
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Warren Buffett: Tax Hypocrite?
Future of Capitalism, Warren Buffett's Tax Hypocrisy: When Warren Buffett criticized President Bush's tax cuts while plumping for the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, he garnered prominent, adulatory headlines … Consider that as the context for two pieces of information: First, the observation, amid a column in today's Wall Street Journal, about…
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ALJ Says Billionaire Spent Only 183 Days in NYC, So Not Subject to NYC Tax
A New York state administrative law judge has ruled that billionaire former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson Jr. spent only 183 days in New York City in 2000, As a result, the ALJ ruled that Robertson was not a New York City resident because he spent at least half of the year outside elsewhere and thus was not liable…
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IRS as Meat Loaf: Two Out Of Three (e-Filed Returns) Ain’t Bad
The IRS yesterday released Two Out of Three Individuals Now Using IRS e-File (IR-2009-99): Individuals e-filed a record 95 million federal income tax returns during 2009, up almost 6% from last year’s total of nearly 90 million. About two out of three taxpayers e-filed this year; out of the 141 million returns filed so far this…
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Hillary Clinton: Low Marginal Tax Rates Lead to Terrorism
Reason, Hillary Clinton: Low Marginal Tax Rates Lead to Terrorism, by Tim Cavanaugh: Did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admit that Americans are overtaxed during her business leader roundtable in Lahore, Pakistan? The juxtaposition of quotes in this Pakistan Daily Times article — the first part about the government's failure to locate al Qaeda leadership in…
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Ed Rollins Owes $1.3m in Taxes
Ed Rollins, former National Campaign Director for the Ronald Reagan (1984) and Mike Huckabee (2008) presidential campaigns and current CNN Senior Political Contributor, owes more than $1.3 million in federal and state taxes: IRS tax liens: $1,126,166 New York tax warrant: $169,459 Oklahoma tax warrant: $35,114
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Deductibility of Halloween Costumes
Jim Maule, Unmasking the Deductibility of Halloween Costumes: A few weeks ago, an email came my way that opened with this question: “Can you deduct the cost of your Halloween costume as a business expense?” It then answered the question: No, if you bought it to go trick-or-treating with your kids. Yes, if you bought…
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More Celebrity Tax Woes
Ron Darling (former New York Mets pitcher): IRS $446,673 tax lien, California $84,860 tax lien, New York $12,664 tax lien Livan Hernandez (Washington Nationals pitcher): IRS $307,268 tax lien, California $30,000 tax lien Nas (rapper): IRS $2,584,206 tax lien Estate of Anna Nicole Smith: IRS $125,113 tax lien, California $43,281 tax lien Darryl Strawberry (former New York Mets…
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Tax (Return) Stories: F. Scott Fitzgerald
The American Scholar: Living on $500,000 a Year: What F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tax Returns Reveal About His Life and Times, by William J. Quirk: Several years ago, my colleague and friend Matthew Bruccoli, an English professor and author of books about 20th-century American writers, made a surprising request. He said he had F. Scott Fitzgerald’s…
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Does Sarah Palin Have a Tax Problem?
From Talking Points Memo: Back in September, it was reported that a dinner with former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was being auctioned by charity on eBay with a minimum asking bid of $25,000. That was sort of funny. It was later reported that the winning bid was $63,500, from a woman in Alabama. That was…
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More on the Tax Consequences of President Obama’s Nobel Prize
Leonard E. Burman (Syracuse University, Maxwell School) follows up on Friday's post, Tax Consequences of President Obama's Nobel Prize: Ellen Aprill's analysis of President Obama's Nobel Prize is fascinating, but left out an important factor in favor of using § 74(b) to avoid the recognition of income. If the president claims the prize as income and…
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Tax Consequences of President Obama’s Nobel Prize
Ellen Aprill (Loyola-L.A.) comments on the tax consequences of President Obama's receipt of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize: At the end of the President's comments on his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this morning, a reporter shouted out, "What are you going to do with the money?" The President didn't answer. My understanding is that the prize…
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Method Man Talks About Tax Evasion Arrest
Following up on Monday's post, Rapper Method Man (Clifford Smith) Arrested on Tax Charges: check out this YouTube clip, Method Man Talks About Tax Evasion Arrest: My favorite line: "After three years, that's when it's a problem."